Hi, I have a friend that wants to order a cake. She said that she needs it to feed 15 people. She wants disney characters.
This may be bad of me but I called the local bakery and they said they charge 22.00 for the 11x15 size. 29.00 for fondant accents and 35.00 for all fondant.
I just started making cakes and my teacher said to charge 1.50 a slice or more. That would make the cake 90.00. (1.50 x 60).

Also, is the 11x15 a one ore two layer cake?
Please help me..........I dont want to overcharge.
Thanks in advance.

First off, and 11x15 cake is way too much to feed 15 people. I think you can get 45- 50 servings of cake out of that size.

I would do a 9X11, even then you should have some left over.

Also, just a heads up, you technically can't sell character cakes, as they are copy-righted especially Disney. It's a big no-no. That's why those Wilton character pans are for home-use only and not meant to make cakes for sale.

An 11x15 2 layer cake is a lot of cake!!!

So that being said I would add up your ingredient costs, and what you think your time is worth. Everyone is different, and you can't compete with the grocery stores as they pump out more cakes.

Wow, I did not know all of that..........thank you so much!

these folks are right. You shouldn't be doing copyrighted charaters. You will had to alter them or buy store bough items to decorate.
as far as cost. in my experice in the biz, 33% mark up to start. Please keep in mind that if you are not buying wholesale, your profit is lower than the bakery. They can buy 100 lbs of flour for 22 dollars. Where in the supermarket, you pay 3 for 5 lbs.

Thank you everyone for the advice. I was going to buy the characters and put them on the cake..........is that okay?

Also, she said that she orders the 1/2 sheet. I know that is alot of cake. But if that is what she said she wanted I guess she is giving big slices.

Should I do that and is the buying characters okay?

Yep, you can buy character figures and put them on the cake! That is the way to do it. That way Disney is getting their money and you aren't breaking any laws! But just make sure that you charge her for those figures!

Buying the characters is okay. They do sell cake toppers of various characters (Disney & others), so you are purchasing a product that is specifically for a cake.

That is still a lot of cake for 15 people. But if that is what she want, she is the customer . Just price your cake accordingly at price that you are comfortable with, but don't sell yourself short.


good luck!!

Thank you again..

So how much to charge for 11x15 with the figures on it.

If you went by your instructors suggestion, you'd multiply the number of servings (my chart has 35 for a single layer, 2" 11x15 cake) by 1.50 .... 52.50. If she wants it for 15 people and wants a double layer, I'd probably just make the 9x13, cut it in 1/2 and use the calculations based on the 9x13 ... 24 servings by my chart x 1.5 = 36.00

No matter what you do, don't charge her for 15 servings and make the 11x15 cake! You charge by the number of servings the cake will feed ... not how many they plan to feed it to (let alone how long they plan on feasting on it). If she doesn't want to pay the amount for the 11x15, just tell her that's more than double what most would purchase for 15 people and you can get within her budget if she orders what she actually needs rather than by stating a simple size. She may think a 9x13 is a 1/2 sheet and 11x15 is a full sheet -- people are always confused about those terms.

Hi heartofOk,

If you are familiar and have Microsoft Excel 97 or newer, try using my pricing metrix for home and hobby to see if it helps you at all.

Lisa

This is Wiltons' guide to serving size, batter amounts, etc.

http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/baking-party-cake-2-inch-pans.cfm

here is their "Party cutting guide"
http://www.wilton.com/cakes/cake-cutting-guides/party-cake-cutting-guide.cfm

You will see that the 11x 15 is more than triple the serving for 15 people.

Everyone has different view on 1/4, 1/2 & full sheets and their sizes.

What you need to do is add up how much it is going to cost YOU to make this cake. Are you making it by scratch or boxed? Scratch: you need to figure out your cost per ingredients (there is a price matrix around here that has a break down of cost per ingredient item, check it out to get an idea) Boxed: how many boxes of mix, plus the # of eggs, oil and water. Then you need to add up the cost of ingredients for your icing, colours, flavouring etc. PLUS add in the cost for your toppers. PLUS add the cost for your cake board and/or box. PLUS the time it takes you to prepare, bake and decorate the cake. Is your time worth $10 per hour? $15? What about your costs of electricity and water???
We can't tell you what you should charge, that is something that you need to figure out based on prices where you live. I'm in Canada so my costs are different than yours.

If you do it by the slice, regardless of the fact that she is going to only serve 15 people at cake that serves 50, you still charge her for the 50 servings.

good luck

Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone!